bLuE into...

3.06.2009

FEATURED ARTIST: JOHN LEGEND: RnB EVOLVER
John Stephens (born December 28, 1978), better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American soul singer, songwriter, and pianist। His debut studio album, the multiplatinum-selling Get Lifted, was released in late 2004, and features collaborations with rapper and producer Kanye West as well as Snoop Dogg. Get Lifted produced two singles: "Used to Love U" (US top 100, UK top 30) and "Ordinary People" (US and UK top 30). Legend has won five Grammy Awards. Prior to the release of his debut album, Legend's career gained momentum through a series of successful collaborations with multiple established artists. Notably, Legend sang the hooks for hits by Slum Village ("Selfish", also featuring Kanye West), Jay-Z ("Encore"), and Dilated Peoples ("This Way", also featuring Kanye West); played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything"; and sang background vocals on Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name" and Fort Minor's "High Road."

JOHN LEGEND - EVOLVER
RATING: ***1/2
Evolver is the third studio album by R&B/soul singer John Legend, released by GOOD Music and Columbia Records on October 28, 2008 in the United States and on October 20 in the United Kingdom. It features guest appearances by Kanye West, Brandy, Estelle and Andre 3000, among others.

The album debuted at number 4 on the U।S. Billboard 200 to sales of 132,823 copies. It also entered the UK Albums Chart at number 21, and reached number 26 on the national Japanese albums chart, as well as number 5 on the Japanese foreign chart. The album has received mixed reviews from music critics since its release.
BEST TRACKS: "Green Light" ft Andre 3000

JOHN LEGEND - ONCE AGAIN
RATING: ***
Once Again is the second studio album by American singer John Legend, issued by GOOD Music and Columbia Records on October 24, 2006. Legend co-wrote and co-produced the bulk of the album, working with collaborators such as Kanye West, will.i.am, Raphael Saadiq, Craig Street, Sa-Ra, Eric Hudson, Devo Springsteen, Dave Tozer and Avenue.

Singles from the album include "Save Room", "Heaven", "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)", "Stereo", "Another Again", "Slow Dance", "Show Me" and "Each Day Gets Better". Once Again has been certified platinum by the RIAA, after shipping over one million copies.
BEST TRACKS: "Save Room" "PDA" "Once Again"

JOHN LEGEND - ONCE AGAIN
RATING: *****
Get Lifted is the debut studio album by American singer John Legend, released via Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label on 12/28/2004 in the United States. Featuring production by West, John Legend, Dave Tozer and Will.i.am, it sold over three million units worldwide, with a total of 1.8 million copies in the U.S., where it was certified platinum. It been released on DualDisc format. The album won the 2006 Grammy for Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two awards for Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Ordinary People") off of the strength of this album.
BEST TRACKS: "Ordinary People" "Used to love You" ft Kanye West "Get Lifted"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

JL won his second Best Male R&B Vocal Performance("Heaven/Once Again") in 2007.

Anonymous said...

I like his sophomore album best.
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:fm91z85a6yv5
If the album is missing something, it's a snappy, unapologetically swaggering track in the vein of Get Lifted's "Used to Love U," ...